Happiness through one's own will
by cleopuffer
Summary: Spoiler alert. Set after the war of the universe on Earth. Kagura joins her father travelling outer space as an alien hunter. Everyone else is left on Earth to try and restore Japan. She grows up and comes back.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki. I own nothing.

Chapter 1.

The silhouette of her form could be seen clearly whenever she leapt directly in front of one of the 4 moons. Umibouzu stood from afar and concentrated closely trying not to lose sight of the figure fighting. He had said that he'd help, but she insisted that he rest for the time being. Losing both his arms has certainly been detrimental to his usual fighting prowess, but if one thought he was weak, they'd be sorely mistaken. Though he no longer had the ability to wield his umbrella skills, his legs were more powerful than ever and his headbang was no joke.

In terms of being able to resume his job as an alien hunter though, he was very glad his daughter had chosen to tag along. She had wanted to learn and become stronger, and stronger she has definitely become. From when she started the journey to now, her progress has been immense. Her father and mother's blood coursing through her veins without a doubt. During such time, she also happened to go through her yato puberty. Umibouzu has watched his daughter change from a cute, vibrant, uncouth girl to a beautiful, confident, uncouth lady. Her state of dress has changed slightly, now wearing more traditional yato warrior wear; goggles and more dark coloured chinese clothing covering most of her body to blend in with the earth and provide shelter from the winds. She grew slightly taller and in terms of her assets, well, she grew, not big, however, not the flat board that she was at fourteen. Her small breasts complimenting her slight figure well. She let her hair grow as well, keeping them in the same 2-bun style, the excess hair falling from the buns and just sweeping her shoulders.

He knew it was not only because she wanted to experience more and grow stronger that she chose to come with him. She worried for him. She knew he would not stay idle, it was not in his nature, he would leave and find the next battle, even with no arms to battle with. However, they both knew also, that this would not last, she has her home now, on Earth, and always her heart yearns for it. At least at this time, they are together and living, finally, as a family. Even her baka-aniki, though Umibouzu still finds it hard to believe.

Just at this thought, he notices the second figure, a taller male with a braided ponytail flying behind him, more crass and less graceful, interweaving along with his daughter to deliver the final blow to the large alien. Umibouzu, at that moment, had never felt so proud as a father.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again, gintama is Sorachi Hideaki's, I own nothing. Except these horrible made up on the spot names of planets and species. Sorry, when you have no imagination, the results are things like Zyaq and ferreets... 

Chapter 2. 

The week before.

Kagura and her father arrived at the planet Zyaq upon a secret request by the planets' governor to eliminate a certain group of species that have been oppressing the natives through violence and threats. The group were initially under control of the tendoushuu and were mainly to secure and monitor the altana port, but after the tendoushuu crumbled from the war, they took it upon themselves to torment citizens and become the new rulers of the planet. This was a common story throughout all the planets across the universe, with the tendoushuu gone, planet's now have to establish their own independence and figure out how to utilize their own altana. On the plus side, being an alien hunter has never been more lucrative with all the planets wanting a little outside help. On the minus, never has the universe been is such turmoil, with Earth being worse off than all, since the war of the universe took place on that tiny planet.

Certain parties have taken advantage of the chaos. The harusame, for example, with a certain red-haired baka aniki as the head, far from falling from the war, has taken the opportunity to obtain more power that the tendoushuu left behind. Travelling from planet to planet, seeking out struggling world's that are easy to take over and hold an abundance of resources good for business make good targets. Multiple other smaller pirate parties have the same goal. Little wars all over the universe still taking place at every moment.

Kagura yawned widely and stretched her body. "Ahhhh, you think with how desperate they are for us, they would treat us a bit better in the travel here."

Umibouzu stepped off the tiny spacecraft after his daughter. "After 30 yrs, you'll get used to it, Kagura."

"No thanks, Baldy. I don't want to end with the same head, aru."

"I seem to recall my boldness was due to another reason not akin to travelling."

"You were bold a long time before I ripped the last dredges off!"

"Tshhhhhh! Please!" Both Kagura and Umibouzu turned their heads towards the speaker. The planet's native species were gentle looking creatures with light blue skin and tiny ears but generally human shaped.

"If the Ferreets see you, they'll be no end to the torment!" The Zyaqian fretted.

"Worry not, friend. You hired Umibouzu and mini-umibouzu- ouch, don't kick, Kagura. You are in good hands, we will remove every last of those intruders on this planet for you."

The Zyaqian wrung his hands a few times, looking nervous. "Oh, I hope so, I hope so." He avoided looking at them in the eyes.

Soon he had brought them to the governor, who went over the situation they were in and his request, he asked if they could get started immediately and they agreed. All the Zyaqian's looked as if they wanted this over and done with quickly.

Standing on top of the rooftop looking down, Kagura could see these 'ferreets' really looked like well, large ferrets, even running around on all fours with tails swishing behind, quite cute, if you ignore their hyena like teeth and buff muscles. They could see hundreds of them below, running around, lazing, tormenting, shouting, so on and so forth.

"Well, here goes nothing." Kagura sighs, puts on her goggles and leaps off the roof. Umibouzu follows suit and chaos insues.

Underground, Abuto was interrogating one of the ferreets. "So what was the profit we made with the weapons?"

"1.2 mill, sir" was the reply, while sweating profusely. The yato stared intensely and the sweat increased.

"There's no way that much weaponry turned such a low profit... where are you hiding the rest of it? Hmm?"

"I.. I don't know what you mean.. Sir.."

As Abuto grabbed the much smaller creature by the neck, a loud snore interrupted his questioning. They both looked to see a young red haired male with an enormous bubble on the edge of bursting coming out of his nose, sleeping uncomfortably on the windowsill.

"Taichou!" Kamui opened one dreary eye. "Could you please focus? The ferreets are stealing our profits. The weapons created from this planet were estimated to give us at least 10 mill."

The captain closed his eye again, then started flailing and whining like a 5 yr old. "Ahh, I don't care! I'm soo boreedd! There's nothing to play with here! It's so so sosososososoososoooo borrriiingg!" Abuto watched the re-enacted scene again with an exasperated expression.

"Well, I'll go up then and try to find out what's going on." He sighed while Kamui kept on fussing in the corner.

Walking up the maze of steps and corridors, hallways and doors, Abuto finally reached the head latch to enter the surface. Just as he stepped up, he was hit head first with a random flying ferreet.

"Ouch! What the hell!?" Looking in the direction of the trajectory, Abuto caught a glimpse of the last thing he expected to see. The captain's young sister knocking out ferreets like a hit the mole game, the scene of carnage and destruction forcing him to do a double take just to make sure he was in the right place. He could feel the start of a headache the size of kingdom come, 'if taicho were to come up here...!' Just as he was frantically formulating a plan to fly far far away on their ship as soon as possible, Kagura spotted him.

"What... YOU!" She pointed, garnering Umibouzu's attention as well.

"Hmmm, I should have known. I knew the Zyaqian's were hiding something. So the harusame is involved as well." Umibouzu stated.

"Now now, ojou-chan, umibouzu-san, let's just try and-" Unfortunately for poor Abuto, while trying to stave off the growing doom within his head, he had left the latch entrance open and a number of his yato underlings had seen the intruders, rushing out onto the battlefield.

"IF YOU'RE HERE! THAT MUST MEAN THAT STUPID BAKA-ANIKI IS HERE TOO!" Kagura shouted, doing nothing to help his headache.

"Sssshhhhhhhhhhh! Men, men, just try be quiet and stave them off while we get ready to leave." Abuto tried to order the yato, he could see in their eyes he was losing them though, the enemies in front of them now too appetizing for distraction. Abuto cradled his forehead to stop the pounding, unfortunately again for the poor man, his wish to subdue the two unwanted guests quietly did not go as planned. The young ojou-chan wasn't just holding her own against several of his yato men, she was completely overpowering them. And of course, the Umibouzu looked like he was swatting flies.

He needed a plan and quickly. Grab the captain and pretend there's an urgent situation elsewhere, before he-

At the thought, a huge blast underneath Abuto threw him upward 50 feet, 'Ah, ah, too late' was Abuto's last thought as he caught sight of his smiling captain springing up from the explosion.

"Are you guys having fun without me, hmm?" Kamui asked with his innocent/sinister/I'm-gonna kill-you face.

When he caught a glimpse of the perpetrators, a look of surprise crossed his features but not enough to remove the smile. "Hmm, I thought this would happen at some point."

"KAAMMMUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIII!" Kagura readied her stance as the harusame captain descended on her. And the fight started. 

2 days later

"Ok, we'll leave this planet alone." Kamui graciously stated to the governor of Zyaq. Said man was on his knees, mouth agape staring at the complete annihilation of his beautiful planet within a 100 000 km radius.

"Ahem, cough cough, you don't need to pay us for our services..." Umibouzu tried comforting, the governor slowly turned his head to him with the same look of utter despair. All else was silent. Abuto still had his headache, along with multiple injuries all over his body courtesy of his captain.

Kamui stretched languidly. "Well, thank goodness for that! This planet was damn boring!" He smiled widely.

"Why you selfish little-" Kagura angrily kicked his fractured shin with her unbroken leg.

"Owow, you wanna go again, baby sister?" Readying his stance as well as he could with his splintered arm and crutches.

"PLEASE!" Both Abuto and Umibouzu shouted. "Weren't those 2 days of destruction enough?!" All the half-dead yato surrounding them silently agreeing. The yato race were known for their love of battles but even they needed rest. Sweet, sweet, much needed rest.

"So where are ya headed to next? Did you need a lift?" Kamui asked, pointing disjointedly with his broken thumb to the harusame spaceship behind him.

All the blood drained from Abuto's face.

"Sweet! We've got another job in planet Rasah and we're already late." Kagura stated happily, hobbling lopsidedly to the ship entrance. Umibouzu reluctantly followed behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Umibouzu certainly had his reservations of travelling with his son and the harusame fleet. And just as he suspected, both his children had spent the majority of the time tormenting the fact that he had no well-functioning arms. He had been given temporary sticks with clamps while his mechanical arms were being repaired. Kagura enjoyed the game of choosing clothes with the most elaborate buttons and zips to watch him suffer when he needed to go to the toilet. They both liked placing items that were close to him but hard to angle his sticks to clamp onto. And the bald jokes certainly didn't let up. Umibouzu really had to wonder where they both got their over the top sadistic streaks from, he didn't recall Kouka ever being that bad, and it certainly wasn't from him.

Another thing that plagued Umibouzu to sleeplessness during the entire trip were the hoards of yato males that just couldn't keep their eyes, hands and a 1 km distance away from his daughter. It didn't help that whenever she was slightly bored, she would ask for opponents in the games of kick the can, hide and seek/chasey or even duck duck goose. The yato men 110% willing to get completely pulverized by her in these games, and always much too happy about it. Umibouzu spent nearly the whole journey following behind his daughter, and greeting every single one of them that came within her peripheral vision with death threats, death eyes or just plain death. He highly suspected his son was doing something similar. Kamui must have taken out half of his own fleet during their journey. His men couldn't even say the syllable "Ka-" without finding themselves with a trip to the infirmary courtesy of their commander. Abuto was in a state of constant illness throughout the time they were there.

However, all in all he had never seen Kagura happier in their company since the days Kouka was still around. His wife was right, of course, as long as Kagura's here, the family bonds will remain.

When they reached their destination and set to leave, they had all stood at the ship entrance saying their farewells. Kamui, Abuto and all of the injured yato men squeezing in the tiny space to bid goodbye to Kagu- them. Abuto seemed to be feeling a lot better that morning. As the father and daughter set off though, Kamui followed suit. Everyone wore puzzled expressions on their faces, especially the two walking off the ship gawping at the uninvited individual. Abuto sighed resignedly, "Hai hai taichou, take care. Don't get into too much trouble and remember, you need to attend the captains meeting in 2 months." Saying that, Abuto turned and headed back into the space ship.

"Thanks Abuto, I knew you'd be fine taking care of things." Kamui replied with his usual cheerful expression, then turned back to his father and sister. "It's just that what you guys are doing seem to be a lot more fun!" The harusame ship's engine started roaring, fire emitting from the outlets beneath, ready to take off. The yato men still standing agape by the entrance scrambled to get back inside and close the gate, some tripping over and falling to a fiery death. And just like that, the ship flew off, dumping the captain of the most notorious space pirates with the universe's most powerful alien hunter and yorozuya Kagura. Thus began their space adventures as the alien hunter family.

* * *

Umibouzu was walking down a random street in the far away planet when a young alien boy ran up to him huffing.

"A, A, Are you the great Umibouzu-san?" The young male stuttered. At the affirmative nod, the boy took out an envelope and presented it. "Please, sir, I was told to deliver this urgently."

Umibouzu gave a brief glance at the letter and the content written at the front. It was another job request.

Without touching the letter held out to him, Umibouzu turned back to the young alien. "Please tell whoever sent this my apologies. We simply can't take anymore jobs. We're at full capacity."

The fame of the three member alien hunter family had become universe renowned, no parallel has even been heard of in history. It had only been a few months since both his children and him started travelling together, taking on jobs to destroy aliens on request. At every stop, their exploits had become legendary, well above what he accomplished alone in the past and at such an alarming rate. Job requests had soared through the roof, it was simply impossible to accomplish them all.

With a nod, Umibouzu set off again at a brisk pace. Surprised, the boy took some time to gather himself and run after him. "Please, please, please wait! You have to take it! I was told it's very important! The, um, the one who sent it told me tell you it concerns some planet called, umm, Earth."

That made Umibouzu stop, he traced back to where the boy was catching his breath and snatched the letter off him, then turned again and strode away.

He made his way into a restaurant, looking for two familiar red haired heads. They were not hard to find, not because of their distinctive appearance however, not an inch of their body could actually be seen. But the monumental amount of dirty dishes surrounding one table was a dead giveaway. Umibouzu headed there, the waitress floundered about after him seeming to want to stop him. Glancing at her, he requested: "5 dishes of pork belly on rice please."

The alien lady floundered some more. "I'm so so sorry. I was just trying to say that we no longer have any ingredients left. I'm sorry!" Bowing a few times for good measure, the man in front of her was scary at the start, but his expression now was paralysing.

The two similar looking red heads were lounging at the dining table rubbing their bloated stomachs contendedly when a large bop hit them both firmly on their heads.

"OUCH! BALDY, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" The female version of the two shouted.

"I thought I told you to leave me some!"

"It's not our fault if the restaurant doesn't keep enough stock. Tsk." The older of the siblings leaned back into his pyramid of empty plates.

"Who do you think pays for all this! Huh!" His spread arms not even reaching the ends of the dish pile.

"Hey, we work!" His children replied in unison.

"All you guys do is fight cause it's fun! There is a lot of paperwork involved, I could always use a bit of help with th- HEY!" Before he could finish his sentence, both his children were making a beeline to the door. Umibouzu's stomach growled loudly.

"Scoundrels! Get back here!" Umibouzu sighed and looked down at the letter in his hand, thinking about all the extra paperwork he would have to fill out and clients to contact in order to cancel the next few jobs. He figured this trip to Earth would take a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Gintama is not mine, it belongs to Sorachi Hideaki. I'm just butchering the story to iddybiddy pieces, sorry.

Short again. Ehehe. Also realised when I wrote this that I completely forgot Sadaharu. Just imagine an awesome reunion back home... he was supposed to travel with her, man. I don't know why that completely disappeared from my head.

Her father and brother are sitting on the side bench this chapter till they're tagged in again, haha. On to-

Chapter 4.

Kagura couldn't contain her excitement. She was going home! She felt the need to compulsively burst into tears from her over-eagerness. Everyone she missed, everyone she cared about, she would see them all again! And she just couldn't wait! She read the crinkled piece of paper in her hands again, sent from Queen Soyo of the country Japan in planet Earth requesting for the assistance of alien hunters to track down a certain criminal. Though the content of the letter were not of the warming kind, Kagura recognised her friends handwriting, and felt giddy all over again.

Soyo was stationed right in front of where the spaceship landed. Gin-chan, Shipachi and Otae by her side. Kagura with a fountain of tears rushing down her face ran straight into Gintoki's arms. "GINN-CHANNNN!"

"Kagura-chan!" Shinpachi cried, flailing about her still in Gintoki's hold. Soyo and Otae also with tears in their eyes surrounded the girl and lightly touched her just to make sure she was real.

"OOOOFF. Hey, hey take it on easy on poor Gin-chan. He's not used to your bone-crushing ways anymore after nearly 2 years." Kagura responded by crying louder and hugging him tighter. "Ughhhh... h, help me.. I'm dying.."

After a few minutes in which Kagura buried herself into each of their arms, "SOYO-CHANNNN!" "ANEGOOOO!" "MEGANEE-"

"OOOOOIIIIIII"

\

Gintoki then took her by the shoulders and gently used his knuckle to tip her chin up. "Ok, come on, let's get a good look at you. See how much you've grown since you left."

A moment passed while the 4 of them visually took her in and she them after the long time apart.

Kagura was still very short, but she had grown a little bit taller. Her most distinct difference they noticed were her features, gone was her baby face and standing before them now was a young lady, more mature yet still with the tone of the carefree and tempestuous Kagura of old.

To Kagura, Gin-chan and Anego didn't seem to have a changed at all, maybe with just a tiny bit more lines around their faces. They've been busy on Earth, rebuilding Edo after the war, Kagura wished she could have stayed and helped but she had chosen her father. Megane was megane, maybe the glasses stand might have gotten a bit taller, but the megane hasn't changed. The one who has certainly changed the most out of the four was definitely Soyo-chan. Kagura felt compelled to address her as Jouou-sama* with bows and all just by her appearance alone. Beautiful but powerful. She seemed to embody the very definition of graceful regality.

Out of everyone, Soyo-chan probably had the most difficult time. At the end of the war, shogun nobunobu had died and with the connections lost from chaos of the war, the bakufu were running around like headless chooks. Matsudaira had come to Soyo-chan and requested that she become the figurehead for the restoration of Edo, of course with the backing of himself and other high class military ranks. Soyo had been reluctant, she knew her brother had wanted to abolish the shogunate system. However, as things stood, she agreed to take on the role for the sake of rebuilding Edo, just temporarily till a new governmental system could be put into place. So, at the tender age of 15, Soyo became the new ruler of Edo, Japan and started her reign right after the Universe's worst catastrophe. Kagura couldn't be more proud to be her friend.

Still sniffling, Kagura finished looking closely at all their faces and returned to lock her eyes with Gin-chan's.

"Okaeri, Kagura."

Kagura's smile was blinding. "Tadaima."

* * *

*Jouou-sama means Queen/your majesty (female). I hope. I googled.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Gintama is not mine. Belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

Note: Finally, Okita Sougo. Ahahahahaha. That didn't take long at all..

Chapter 5.

Sougo couldn't stop thinking about the new arrivals, or a single arrival in the form of a red haired girl to be more precise. It was the talk of the town that the alien monster hunter family had come to Japan. In Sougo's mind, these conversations were translated to 'China, china, china'.

The next day, he set out briskly towards 'their' park, where they spent what felt like their past lives fighting regularly. He caught sight of a distinctive red coloured head stooped low behind the park bench and felt his heart leap. He took out his bazooka and aimed. Something felt a bit off, but he shrugged it off as over excitement and fired anyway. If she was still the rival he knew, she wouldn't let herself get beaten by something like that, so Sougo unsheathed his katana, ready to start the real fight. As he sped towards his target though, he noticed the instant before the rocketing missile hit, a hair-like antenna that he knew his rival didn't have.

Kamui was eager, his dear baby sister had told him that she bought him a present and placed it in the park as a surprise. She said it with such a gleeful expression and knowing look in her eyes too, as if psshhht like a present from her would make him excited. Nevertheless, he made his way quickly to the park, his antenna twitching happily the whole way, and found the wrapped up box. Crouching down, he quickly unwrapped his present, unable to hide the enthusiastic look on his face. He was a bit puzzled when there was another wrapping underneath it, but set to work again anyway. That's when he heard the loud roaring sound coming from behind him. He turned a split second before a gigantic missile hit him where he was crouching, sending him flying through the air. Just as he landed, pure instinct made him reach for his umbrella and deflect a deadly attack from a crazy blonde man in black with his katana. 'Wait, I've seen this guy before.'

Caught completely off guard, Kamui exclaimed loudly "What?!" before multiple things happened at once.

"Tch." Sougo's attention was already diverted, he twisted his head this way and that, knowing he had fallen for a trap.

A wild woman swung up from behind them in the trees and flipped in the air laughing maniacally.

"Wahahahahahah, you totally fell for it!" By the time both men looked up, the barrel of her umbrella was pointed straight at their position and a cascade of heavy bullets rained down upon them.

Smoke and uprooted soil surrounded the vicinity, causing zero visibility. Sougo relied on his instincts alone to veer right and parry a lethal strike from the aforementioned wild woman. The first sight of her after close to 2 yrs and he could honestly say she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her form just emerging out of the dust clouds was already completely covered in dirt, the baggy clothes she wore hid any form of figure whatsoever, her face was plastered with a feral grin and maniacal eyes and her hair was swinging crazily. No other woman could possibly compare. This dance he had missed so much, now came crashing (literally) onto his body again, this time more brutal, more quick and both with more skill.

Meanwhile, Kamui was left crumpled by the side, his clothes tattered and his ego bruised. He had been tricked! And now they were completely ignoring him! Another thing was also irking him as he watched the two fight. He's never seen his sister look so happy fighting with someone before, and the way the man was staring at Kagura while fighting... A dark black hole was starting to fill up inside Kamui. He had thought her reunion with her pseudo family was bad, the old guy with white hair and the perverse glasses getting all touchy and huggy with his sister, but this guy! This guy was even worse!

Then and there, he decided that this man will die.

Kagura thought for sure this would be an easy victory and was pleasantly surprised when she found the sadist match her blow for blow. He certainly hadn't stayed idle here on Earth either. Taking care of the mess after the great universal war seems to have been good training grounds to grow stronger. When their weapons clashed, she could feel the strength in his body from the force and every time his swift swing brought a near-fatal wound close to her neck, a chill of attraction would run down Kagura's spine. They were both in their own little world, unknowingly causing absolute destruction to the surrounding area. That's why she was caught off guard when a flash of red and black intruded in on their fight, her previous opponent replaced by her baka-aniki.

"Baka aniki! Stay out of this!"

"No fair! I wanted to fight samurai too. And I have to kill this guy." Kamui's eye twitched.

"Tsk." Kagura charged. The fight between the yato siblings was a lot more animalistic and rough as if two wild beasts were trapped in a fighting pen.

Now Okita felt left out. "Hey, Oi~~~~" he called with a deadpan expression, then he shrugged and decided to join the fray.

And that's how Hijikata found them a few minutes later after receiving multiple distress calls about terrorists .

Everything in the park was completely decimated, Hijikata could feel the cancer in his lungs spread a little more in that moment. His men had finished setting up the mega-speakers behind him as he had ordered them to do, he calmly squeezed the ear plugs into his ears, picked up the mega-mega-megaphone and sucked in his breath.

"OIIIIIIIIIIII, STOP THIS YOU IDIOTSS!" The screeching, deafening, ear-splitting noise immediately had the three individuals rolling on the ground.

Hijikata smirked and basked in his one second of triumph, until three deadly projectiles were found zooming toward his head. All his life's experience in dodging one homicidal maniac helped him to escape the blow by the skin of his teeth. Now with three homicidal maniacs after his life, he knew his only option was to run, run like umm, umm like as if there were three homicidal maniacs after him.

"Oi, what are we going to do about this, Kondou-san." A while later, Hijikata sat in a meeting room with the commander of Shinsengumi, wrapped head to toe in bandages. "The cost of damages, as well as reimbursement to people and relocation of homes is estimated to cost well over a million. We can't let Sougo get away with it this time, not to mention those two china brats. Oiiii are you listening."

Unfortunately for Hijikata, Kondou was not, he was too busy crying. "Tosshiii, our little boy is all grown up! He's got his love back! Ohhh I'm such a proud father."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Gintama belongs to Sorachi Hideaki~~~ not me.

Chapter 6.

Underground, amanto were squirreling around the place, hatching a dastardly plot. They had managed to graffiti the council's townhouse with "Tendoushuuu Roxxx!" and "We wants Tendoushuu back!" with nobody the wiser. What a win! Everything has been going smoothly so far. They had already managed to graffiti the railway system, the newly built spaceport terminal and even the fence surrounding the shogunate's palace.

It was only a matter of time now, their grand scheme of revenge was soon going to be accomplished, the graffiti was only the first step. They knew the main culprits behind tendoushuu's downfall. Of course the Shinsengumi played a big role, along with Katsura Kotarou and his joui allies, along with the Kiheitai and the deserted 7th division of harusame, along with Sakamoto Tatsuma and his Kaientai fleet, and not forgetting Yoshiwara's Hyakka and Oniwanbanshuu and Yagyuu clan etc etc. Huffhuffhuff. BUT the real culprits were the Yorozuya! If it wasn't for that damned white permed Shiroyasha who started everything! Revenge would be theirs! And they knew just how to get it, they did their research (poorly), they would attack the cute little girl who works in the same agency as the shiroyasha (nevermind that she was a powerful yato), she was a little girl! And they would have their revenge. Tendoushuu-X were ready to roll.

Kagura was out shopping, in her basket were 5 takeaway packs of dango, 2 paper bags of freshly fried squid, a candied apple, a box of mochi and of course 20 packs of sukonbu with a strip currently being sucked on.

"You still eat that crap, China? I would think throughout your travels you would at least have realized what real food is like. If you've been eating that garbage for the last two years, I can now understand why your breath smells like death. Soon, your teeth will start to turn brown from putrification, bacterial infection will build up and you'll die from it. Hahahahhaha" Sougo cackled madly. Kagura took a big breathe innnnnn...

-and then oooouuut, she didn't even turn around, just lifted up her middle finger in the general direction of the voice and moved to the next aisle. They had bumped into each other a lot since she arrived.

"I'll have you know that I've eaten all sorts of food in all parts of the universe, uh-huh. But none compare to Earth. This is just my welcome back treats, so you can fuck off."

Okita smirked behind her. "Is that so? What did they have you eating anyway? Alien guts? Green pigs? Is that why you look like that now?"

Kagura's eye twitched, all the sweetest treats in the world could be in her basket and still not stave off the sourness of Okita Sougo. "Have people been eating your face these last two years!? Is that why you look like that?!"

"Haha good one china, I might have heard you but I was too busy putting all your crap back on the shelves."

Kagura finally gave him her full attention and looked down at her basket. True to word, it was empty, how had she missed that?!

Tossing the basket to one side. "Oh! That is it!" Kagura charged, they crash landed outside the store and proceeded to start another brawl for the umpteenth time.

And just like every other time this has happened, a flash of large red haired male would intrude and start maniacally hacking at Okita.

"Would you stop getting in the way!" Kagura screamed, attacking her brother as well.

Then the three would continue to brawl together until the next unlucky policeman arrives to try and stop them. That's how it's been everyday for the past week, the two would meet and ask in a roundabout way how the other has lived the last 2 yrs, then get into a little scuffle, Kamui joins in and the cycle continues.

You might be wondering what Umibouzu is doing during these moments. Well, he was working, of course. The request from her majesty was to stop a particular criminal group in hiding. The letter didn't really include that much information, so Umibouzu took it upon himself to investigate. So far, his snooping has not come up with much. After asking the Shinsengumi and local witnesses, he's become more and more convinced that this entire expedition was set up as a complete hoax. As far as he has gathered, which is not much, this group calls themselves Tendoushuu-X, a group of Amanto who worshipped the Tendoushuu's power, they have graffiti'd several iconic landmarks... yes, that's it. They have graffiti'd several iconic landmarks. Not only is this not in the job description of a great alien hunter, it also makes it very difficult to complete such an absurd job. How is he to find these guys?! He had to hand it to the ruler of this country who's a good friend to his daughter and obviously hatched this plan just to see her again. Cunning, very cunning.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: Sorryyyy...

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Chapter 7.

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Two weeks later, the Harusame spaceship dropped by Earth to pick up their Captain. Kamui was seen being dragged off kicking and screaming, ranting delusionally about not having killed someone yet. Abuto also popped into the pharmacy to grab more headache medication.

Luckily they left relatively quickly, the sight of the familiar spaceship caused widespread panic among the populace. People ran around shrieking and frothing at the mouth. Kagura, walking to the park saw the destructive scene of her brother, pirates, mayhem and all, and waved her brother a curt goodbye.

She spent her time hanging out with everyone again, easily re-integrating back into the yorozuya and carrying out mundane jobs, completely disregarding her father's struggles. She would go and visit Yoshiwara or Katsura often. Otherwise, she'd be sitting with Madao or fighting with the sadist. It's like she'd never left.

When she felt like it, she also helped out Otae at the cabaret club. Otae had been promoted to manager/bouncer and saw to the removal of unwanted customers. Kagura would happily help out with the same task, following her anego's instructions on who to pulverize.

The other hostesses loved to dress Kagura up to suit the venue, which helped to bring in a little more revenue to the club. Her unique look attracting all sorts of customers, can't say they lived very long though. On top of having Kagura herself as the point of interest. There was also the scary bald man that popped out from dark corners, the beast woman manager, Gin-chan and the new regular, whom is now often seen tagging along with the cabaret's #1 loyal customer, Kondou Isao - first division captain of the Shinsengumi, Okita Sougo.

The ladies would giggle and squeal as they watched him steal all of Kagura's attention as soon as he enters by insulting and picking fights with her. They even had the popcorn machine ready for instances where another patron got a bit too interested in the new girl, grabbing front row seats to enjoy the show.

* * *

Meanwhile, Umibouzu was at his wits end. For 3 weeks now, he has not found hide nor hair on this self-proclaimed Tendoushuu-X group. Trying to gain more information had proven fruitless. The Shinsengumi waved him off, stating they had more dire cases to tend to, such as multiple child kidnappings happening around town. Umibouzu concurred, he was ready to throw in the towel.

Ironically, the group of amanto he's searching for were only in the next building; in a littered apartment, with Anpan packages and milk cartons strewn everywhere and a telescope focused on the Yorozuya household next door. Their eyes were blood-shot, their bodies were sore, their stomachs gurgled alarmingly, probably from all the anpan and milk they had consumed (they heard it was what spies use). They had been trailing this girl day and night for 3 weeks. Knowing every move, every sneeze and every strand of hair to prepare for their next move.

The problem was that she was hardly ever alone and contrary to their previous belief, this girl was a monster. When she wasn't lazing with the Shiroyasha and some glasses stand, she would be fighting with the infamous swordsman of the Shinsengumi. She frequently met up with the most wanted Joui terrorist or else visited the deadly Hyakka in Yoshiwara. And in the rare times that she wasn't beside people that a little girl really shouldn't be beside, she would have her gigantic monster of a dog glued next to her.

But after all this watching and study, they had a plan! Now to put it into motion.

* * *

Kagura yawned as she jumped out of her cupboard at 12 noon and wobbled to the living room. Gintoki was lying on his reclining chair, feet up on the desk with Jump covering his face. Sadaharu was sleeping next the couch and she could hear Shinpachi cleaning the bathroom. She blinked twice and asked.

"Hey Gin-chan, did you take Sadaharu out for a walk today? Cause there's a big pile of shit in front of the TV."

Silence for a while, until a sluggish reply "Ah, really?" No movement from his previous position.

"Hey Gin-chan, where's food? I'm hungry."

"Ah, really?" No movement.

"Hey Gin-chan, why are you such a sorry excuse for a human being? Are you really gonna let a poor girl starve under your very roof. You should die, idiot, die a horrible painful death, idiot, dumbass, dumbass."

"Ah, really?" No movement.

Until, Finally! Movement from the man! He was now hanging outside of the window, held on only by his hair, his life in the hands of his youngest charge.

"Hey Gin-chan, are you listening to me?"

"AH, REALLY? OWOWWWWWWWW AHAHAHAHAAH, KAGURA-CHAN, SWEET SWEET KAGURA-CHAN, THAT'S SO INTERESTING! WHAT WAS IT YOU WANTED AGAIN? YOUR DEAR GIN-CHAN WILL GET IT FOR YOU!"

Shinpachi could hear the ruckus over his otsuu CD. Grumpily, he opened the bathroom door to peer outside and caught Kagura dangling Gin-san out of the window. Rolling his eyes, he closed the door again and turned up his volume.

Kagura narrowed her eyes and tsked. "Fine, I'll go find food elsewhere." She released her hand and stalked off, Gintoki's scream of death fading into the background.

The purple umbrella fluttered open as soon as she stepped outside, but not 3 metres from her house, she stopped at a pop-up stall selling sukonbu.

"SUKONBU! Wow Mister, what a coincidence. I just wanted these! And they're so cheap too!" Her eyes sparkled but then dimmed. "Moh, but gin-chan didn't give me any money and I don't know where that baldy went.."

The amanto cursed themselves, they failed to calculate her complete lack of money.

"Oh, ojouchan, how about we give one on the house, since it's such a perfect day." Handing her one packet.

"Really? Sugoi!"

Hook, line, sinker! It worked! She took the packet and opened it immediately, taking one out and started to suck on it. Excellent! Target has taken the bait, now to wait for the drugs to kick in and the kidnap procedure to commence.

There was one moment, one moment in which they worked out they could get away with the kidnapping. The 3 weeks had paid off. They gave just enough sedation to kick in at the time it takes to walk form the crowded street to the empty back alley, before she meets up with the first division captain of the Shinsengumi at the park. Factoring in her stature and Yato metabolism.

The Amanto all kept an eye on her while she walked. Praying against prayer that no distractions would befall her on this day. Fortunately for them, once she reached the predicted alleyway, she started drooping, just as they hoped, and soon collapsed. Fist pumping, they all scurried out and carried her back to their hideout.

* * *

Sougo knew something was wrong. At 10 past noon, China would always meet him at the park. Always. From waking at midday, then finding that Danna had no food in the house, China would make her way to demand food from him. There were no exceptions! She would not not be here.

Slipping off his red eyemask, Sougo decided to make the trip to the Yorozuya household.

Upon arriving, he saw the crumpled body of danna at the front door but paid it no mind. At the side of the house, he noticed two amanto graffiti-ing the wall, snickering then running off.

The graffiti'd words were:

"HAHA THAT'S WHAT YOU GET! HAHA signed: Tendoushuu-X"

Thinking up a thousand curse words for his idiot of a rival, he followed after the two amanto.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Gintama is Sorachi Hideaki's. Not mine. :)

Chapter 8.

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Sougo followed them down a zigzag of alleyways till he came upon the sorriest looking rundown hut in the middle of what looked like a garbage dump of broken building pieces.

On his journey, he did wonder about these kidnappers. They didn't seem to have any concern about pursuers at all, talking and laughing loudly all the way to their base.

When they entered, Sougo quietly climbed over the broken walls and pipes and lots and lots of bricks. He made it to the entrance of the hut to find surprisingly that it was much bigger inside. The hut was made to conceal an underground cave. Surrounded by rocks, Sougo could see several Amanto lying about, some playing cards, some talking in the corner, some sleeping. In another corner, was a straw cage, in which a sleeping Kagura could be seen.

Sougo deadpanned. At the same moment, he overheard two nearby Amanto talking.

"Hehehe, we got her good. Now we just gotta punish her, so we teach her and that Shiroyasha a lesson."

"Hehehe, yeah, good good. How we punish them?"

"Heheh, we keep her here a while, make him fret, you know? And in the meantime, we torture her."

"Hehehe, good good. What kinda torture?"

"Darmin's got that new tickle machine, you know, the one that doesn't stop, that one."

"Hehehe, good good."

Sougo made up his mind, he was going to leave the damn idiot to her fate.

He stood up, but then thought about all the stuff he had wanted to shout at her, and, well, he had already come all this way.

He then noticed that he had stood up in full view of the front door without a single one of the occupants noticing. He could probably walk right up to the cage and shout at her to get things off his chest then walk out again with no one the wiser. So, he did just that.

Strolling straight from the front door to the back of the cave where the straw cage was, he made it all the way without one of them stirring.

Looking down, he saw Kagura snoring away, looking quite comfortable on the straw mat. His foot reached through the straw bars and stepped on her head.

"OW!" She whined and awoke.

Still, the amanto continued talking their talk, or playing their cards or remained in their dreams.

Sougo crouched down, while Kagura took in her surroundings, rubbing her sore head with confusion written on her face.

Finally, her eyes met his and she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Oops."

"Oops? That's all you have to say? What have you been doing all these years? You're not supposed to get captured so easily, you imbecile. How did this happen anyway?"

Kagura looked down a bit shamefaced. "I ate their free sukonbu..." She whispered.

Sougo would have drove his head into the straw if he thought it would help. "Only you China. Would be dumb enough to fall for a trap like that."

"Shut up sadist! I've been tuned to smell a lot more dangerous people than these bunch of ragatags. They smell purer than the virgin-iest undies. Even purer than Shinpachi's!"

"Don't give me that mental image, please. And virgin-iest is not a word."

Their argument finally got the attention of some of their neighbours, who noticed the intruder and that their captive was awake.

However, the unexpected turn spooked them. This wasn't part of the plan! The intruder was the first division captain of the Shinsengumi!

Before any of the amanto could move or bolt, Sougo stood up and unsheathed his katana. Red eyes gleaming. Kagura also stood and like walking through air, stepped out of the cage. The straw fell all around her, almost burying her and made her look a bit of a fool.

"Heh, nice look, China."

Kagura struggled with the excess straw, red-faced and fuming.

"Why are you here?!"

"Tch, making me work on my day off, and this is what I get." Sougo muttered while stalking forward, slicing the amanto before him.

"It's not even your day off, lazy tax-robber!" She rebutted amidst her flying kicks and umbrella smashes.

About 30 seconds later, all the amanto were laying on the ground. Kagura was dusting off the last of the straw and Sougo yawned loudly.

"You can at least be my pillow to sleep on after this."

"Keep Dreaming." Kagura replied, but just as she turned to leave from the cave, a sharp pain bloomed through her upper left thigh and before she knew it, she was collapsed on the dirty cave floor. An echo of a loud bang bouncing off the cave walls she only now noticed.

Within a tenth of a second, Sougo had drawn his sword and was flying towards the offender who could be seen behind a well-hidden rock on the left side of the cave.

"DON'T MOVE!" Another voice shouted this time somewhere deep on the right side of the cave. Sougo nimbly shifted his sword to the voice. "or we'll blow her brains out next time round. And just in case _you_ get any funny ideas, ojou-chan. Please consider this poor child's safety." A large rock shifted at the back of the cave wall, where an amanto appeared carrying a young human child of about 5-7 pointing a knife to his throat.

The boys mouth was roughly covered but his muffled sobs could still be heard.

Kagura had been getting up again with difficulty, but immediately stopped as she noticed the hostage. 'What cowardly assholes, using children as their shields!'

Sougo couldn't believe his luck, he recognised the kid as one of the missing children. Always when the damn yorozuya are involved...

They both dropped their weapons. They were surrounded in the enemy's territory, it was obvious this was a trap. Kagura could smell the blood on them, whatever weird connection they had with the initial kidnappers, these guys were on a whole different league.

They didn't move when several more amanto entered from hidden passages at the back of the cage and bound their hands and feet. They wore dark green armor and were much more built, all having their fair share of battle scars.

Sougo and Kagura were led down the inner cave deeper and deeper and deeper, winding this way and that. The labyrinth was extensive, the most astounding thing was it all seemed to be artificial, someone had taken the time to create this.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Gintama is Sorachi Hideaki's, I own nothing.

Note: Yep, I went there... ehehe apologies in advance.

Also, would like to give special thanks to xtatarax! Haha. Thank you for the support. :)

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Chapter 9.

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They eventually reached a wider area that seemed to be a dead end in the maze. The place was dank and dark with a heavy scent of rot in the air, there were several cages lining the walls. The young boy was placed in one that kept several other children. Sougo and Kagura were shoved into another and secured with heavy metal chains protruding from the wall.

Only when the clinking of the metal and the stomping of the amanto ceased was it silent enough that they could hear a soft chuckling coming from inside the cave where it was too dark to see.

They peered into the darkness but could only make out a small crumpled figure.

"Huhuhuu kekekeekkee. To think that those idiots would actually be able to get their hands on you. They weren't completely useless after all. Heheheheheh. All this time with their annoying worshipping and grovelling, preaching and propaganda," He spat. "Made me sick. But the fools not only caught the yorozuya girl, they even managed to lure the Shinsengumi's first division captain here. Not bad, not bad. Now what should I do with you? Send you back to those dogs in pieces? Heheheheh. That'll teach them. They've been annoying lately, snooping around my territory."

Sougo eyed the children in the other cage, no doubt about it, all the children were in the cases of abduction within the last few months. "What is your purpose for doing all this?"

The man was silent for a moment.

"For revenge. Revenge on that cursed man. That one entity that destroyed us, thereby destroying the very nature of the universe. He'll pay. Him and all he cherishes. Even gone, that man had things he loved. It's in my right to see those things destroyed, fair payment to all that was done to me. It'll only be a matter of time now, heheheheh. I'll start with that cursed man's favourite pupil, that damned Shiroyasha, I'll break him first. Heheheheh." The shadow of his hand could vaguely be seen pointing toward Kagura. "Do you understand why you're here now? Hehehehhehe."

Sougo was getting the idea.

"What?" Kagura stated bluntly. "No, I don't get it."

The other two sweat-dropped.

But instead of answering her, Sougo gave out a bark of laughter. Starting off with slight chuckles, soon he was in full blown hysterics. Kagura was sure he'd lost his marbles. In amidst his laughter, he faced the dark figure.

"You're one of the Tendoushuu. All these years you've been hiding down here, in this labyrinth you created? Like a little insect crawling around in the dirt playing dead. You used to rule the Bakufu, you used to rule Naraku and Harusame, you guys used to rule the whole universe. And look at you now, how pathetic! You even sunk as low as to capture and torment defenceless children to use as safeguards. That's even lower than patheti- ughhh"

A loud shot rang out, Sougo's right shoulder was hit with a bullet from a large rifle. The impact lifted him off his feet and drove him into the bars behind him. Collapsing down again however caused the chains to catch and he hung there, the damaged arm being pulled and inflicting more pain.

"SOUGO!" Kagura screamed. Sougo was momentarily startled by the use of his first name and even forgot his pain for a second. He looked up and caught her anxious eyes. "Stop spouting that crap when you're in this kind of situation, stupid sadist!"

He chuckled again, wincing at the movement it caused. "Right back at you, idiot china" He murmured.

"You'd do well to listen to the girl, Shinsengumi. I didn't want you and I certainly don't need you. So I can dispose of you at any instance, you should shut your mouth before I choose to shut it forever. When the revival of the new Tendoushuu emerges with me as the head," Sougo scoffed, Kagura eyed him warningly, "those fools think that they'll become my new lackeys. Hah, imbeciles, they would do all of my bidding. Too bad they're worse than useless, the fact that they managed to capture you simply showcases your own truly outstanding lack of ability." This time, Sougo glanced pointedly at Kagura while she diverted her gaze.

He clicked his fingers and one of the burly amanto walked into the darkness and was seen to pick him up? With the ex-Tendoushuu is his arms, the amanto slowly made his way toward the cage.

As they got closer, all Kagura and Sougo could see of the figure was covered in a grey hooded cloak. He appeared very disproportionate, the body tiny compared to the head.

The stench was the first thing that hit Kagura, she had thought it was the room itself, maybe others that had died here, but as the amanto came closer, the smell magnified hundredfold. It was all she could do to try and stave off her tears and try to get a whiff of anything that wasn't an overwhelming stench of decay.

The figure in the amanto's arms shifted to get a look at her and that's when she clearly saw him. Horrifying was the only word she could use to describe him, he was essentially a skeleton with the barest amount of mottled flesh hanging off him, the right side of his face was literally melting as she stared. She had seen these men before, the Tendoushuu that had fed immortal blood into their own mortal bodies. Even then, she had smelt the death on them, these extra years have certainly not been kind.

The man shifted his face into a somewhat grotesque image of a smile. "I will have such fun with you. I can't wait to see the look upon the Shiroyasha after we're finished with you hehheehheeh." He chuckled. The amanto unsheathed the sword attached to his belt.

She didn't feel scared or angry at the man in front of her. She didn't feel hatred for the all the crimes he had spent his life committing including the terrified children kept in a cell nearby. Neither did she feel disgust, at his deformation, the smell surrounding him. All she felt was a staggering sense of pity for this living-dead man.

She stared intensely at his decomposing eyes with her crystal clear blue ones and whispered, "Aren't you tired, Mr. Corpse-san? Don't you want to rest now? Stop struggling? I think... I think it's past time."

Better than any insult or contradiction, though, her pity seemed to trigger his ire the most. Unexpectedly, he grabbed the weapon from the amanto holding him and plunged it into Kagura's stomach. He wasn't very powerful, given his fragile form, but the point penetrated, and he was stubborn, twisting the sword to get it deeper.

Kagura screamed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

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He continued to twist the sword further into Kagura's body and stared intensely as blood spilled from the wound.

His eyes were dilated with rapture. "Hahaahaha, you could have a thousand lives and still not use it as effectively as me! Your body, your youth, I could put it to much better use. Try using your Yato abilities to heal this, I'm sure even Yato have problems healing mutilated innards. Hahaahaaha"

Behind them, Sougo instinctively flew forward, stopped again by the chains cutting into his wrists and ankles. Completely ignoring the tearing pain in his shoulder as he pulled hard against it "STOPP ITT, FUCKING STOPP ITT!" He shouted, feeling completely useless.

Worse than anything else he'd experienced, which is a lot considering, was watching as that creature hacked at her and being unable to do anything.

The madness seemed to stretch for eternity, every second of Kagura's scream, every sound of another piece of her body torn, every splatter of her blood continuously falling to the ground magnified till it was the only thing he could hear. The man's maniacal laughter only a background annoyance. Reality seemed to fragment.

Suddenly, the man's hand fell onto the ground, as in literally broke off. The weapon, imbedded within Kagura, slowly slid out and fell on top of the dismembered limb.

His high-pitched laughing turned into a high-pitched wail that sounded eerily similar. "Ahhhhh, ahhhh, my hand! Grab my hand quick, get the glue!" The man frantically ordered the Amanto carrying him. The Amanto reached down to grab the crumbling hand and rushed back to the dark corner of the cave with the wailing man.

More blood spilled from the open wound in Kagura's stomach as she breathed heavily. Her eyes veered back and forth in confusion. Panic setting in. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. More tears pooled in her eyes. Where was she again? Why was it so dark? Why did it smell like death? She choked and sniffled, each hitch causing unbearable pain to her abdomen.

Gin-chan? She wanted Gin-chan. Sadaharu? Sadist? Anyone? Her eyes turned every way but saw nothing except her own darkness, spiraling further into hopelessness. Until she caught a vague glow of red. Weakly focusing on the glow she slowly noticed it was 2 points of red. Eyes. That were staring at her. Clear and transparent, penetrating her soul, Kagura gradually overcame the pain and lost herself in those eyes. Soon the eyes morphed a face and eventually the rest of Sougo and their surroundings came into focus.

'Ah, that's right. I'm here... I'm here with sadist.' She recalled.

"Kagura." His voice was firm, demanding, but the warmth underneath undeniable.

And like a splash of cold water, Kagura felt completely herself again, albeit in excruciating pain.

Taking a deep breath, she replied steadily. "What, sadist."

Sougo scoffed. "Don't die on me, alright."

Kagura smiled back, careful not to laugh and cause any unnecessary movement. "Right back at you, idiot."

They stayed like that in a moment's reprieve as the corpse tried to re-attach his limb.

Sougo kept a keen eye on the heavily damaged girl in front of him.

He knew this type of cowardly man, he'd seen him a dime a dozen. All talk and no action. He would never actually send threats to Danna or the Shinsengumi. He would keep them here, tormenting and threatening. Keeping them alive to use as possible hostages if the time arises. That's what made it so hard to find criminals like him. Always hiding and only striking in the most cowardly way. But this time he'd made a huge blunder. His greed to take Kagura his downfall. Sougo had left a trail to the hideout, and the mess they left at the entrance was nothing if not conspicuous.

Sougo couldn't do anything for her or himself for now, he would just have to clench his teeth and wait for the others to come.

Luckily, very shortly after these thoughts, a frog amanto came running in, out of breath.

"Master! Shinsengumi are heading this way!"

"Whatttt?!" The ex-Tendoushuu screamed, still babying his glued hand to his chest. "Quickly, grab the children, put them in the traps to delay the Shinsengumi." The frog amanto saluted and quickly ran towards where the kids were.

The old corpse was lifted again by his carrier and they started heading further into the cave where there was likely another secret opening.

When he peered back, he noticed that the frog amanto had opened the cage door and was untying the last few children, setting them free.

"What are you doing, you Idiot Frog?!" He screamed. "Just drag them out bound! They're getting away! Quickly, capture them!"

The frog stood and gathered the kids around him, then turned toward the shouting man, he reached up and tore off his frog mask revealing long dark silky tresses and a very familiar face. A face postered on nearly every vacant wall in Edo. "Idiot frog ja nai, Katsura da." He stated.

The corpse-man's eyes widened, this was another of Utsuro's students.

"Zura" Kagura croaked happily.

Katsura eyed Kagura's wound worryingly. "Hang in there, leader. Gintoki will be here soon."

He took out several metal balls from within his kimono and scattered them on the floor, smoke quickly spread throughout the cave, all visibility lost.

"Ahhh, Ahhhhhhh!" The ex-tendoushuu squealed, thrashing in panic, his servant dropped him in amidst the panic, where he continued flailing trying to fight off the harmless gas.

Suddenly, the ceiling exploded! Sunlight instantly penetrated the smoky cave and small bits of Earth fell everywhere. Katsura and the children were nowhere to be seen.

"KAGGGURRRAAA!" Umibouzu shouted, seemingly the one who blew a hole in the top. He jumped straight in followed by Gintoki, Shinpachi, Sadaharu, Kondou, Hijikata, Elizabeth and the rest of the Shinsengumi and Joui-shishi. All of them shouting the names of Kagura and Sougo and one barking and one holding up a placard.

"Toshi! Over there!" Kondou was the first to spot the cage and they both rushed towards it. They just managed to jump out of the way, narrowly escaping death as Umibouzu kicked the cage door off its hinges imbedding it several metres into the opposite wall.

"Kagura!" He rushed toward his daughter, followed closely behind by Gintoki and Shinpachi, freeing her from her chains.

"Gin-chan, Papi, Shinpachi." Kagura managed to whisper with a smile.

They all assessed the damage to her stomach. Umibouzu saw red, his blood boiled and the grip on his umbrella tightened. Jumping up, only death existed in his eyes, no enemy would be spared today. The other two stayed with her.

On the other side, Kondou and Hijikata did the same for Sougo. Hijikata caught him just as he was let loose. "I'm alright." Sougo reassured though, "I can stand." His only thought to make it to Kagura's side, where he set off hobbling.

"Alright, you stay with them, we'll quickly finish up here." Kondou called after him, running with Hijikata to join the battle.

Gintoki while holding Kagura tried to distract her from all the surrounding chaos (especially the one-man battalion known as Umibouzu causing the most ruckus). "I'll make sure there's all the food you need in the house this time, your Gin-chan will spend everything on food till I'm broke."

"You're already broke, Gin-san." Shinpachi still has to play the straight man in these situations, you see.

"Well, hopefully, with the new hole in your stomach, we can recycle."

"HOW CAN YOU JOKE ABOUT THAT?!" Smack.

Sougo managed to hobble his way to them at this point and crouched down.

"Kagura." She turned her head and smiled tiredly at him, face strained. Their hands slipped gently together. Shinpachi looked between the two, bewildered.

Gintoki was a little distracted, he noticed in amidst the battle, a crumpled form scrambling on the ground screeching. He carefully laid Kagura in Shinpachi's arms and stood up. "Look after her" he directed toward the two men.

The trio watched him as he made his way toward the ex-Tendoushuu.

Gintoki stood in front of the hideous screaming creature and looked down.

"Eeeeek Eeeeeeek, get away!" He flailed some more, but then noticed who stood in front of him. His expression changed 180 degrees. "YOU! Ahaha hahahhahaahhahaaahah. Did you see? Did you see what I did to the girl?!" He liked when Gintoki's expression darkened. "Yes, that's it. Feel the hate. Suffer like I suffered. This is what your Sensei caused. You think this is it, that you have me now? I'm immortal! Hahahahahahahahha. And I'm not the only one. We're all probably just waiting for our chance. You think centuries of power can be undone because of one man. Foool! You're all fooools! The Tendoushuu will revive, we will rev- - kuh gah cough cough cough" He began severely choking on his own words.

The battle was finished, all amanto lay dead. The Shinsengumi and Joui slowly made their way toward the scene. Gintoki hesitant, unhooked his bokuto and held it above his head. The ex-Tendoushuu's eyes shifted back into blind panic, still coughing he uselessly scrambled backwards, defenseless.

"Nobody's going to hurt you, aru. Relax."

The voice sounded just behind Gintoki, he turned and saw Kagura half carried by Shinpachi and Sougo. Gintoki glared darkly at Shinpachi.

"She, she threatened to follow you." He reasoned, sweating heavily.

"She can still threaten you in that state?!" His bokuto found another target.

Sougo led Kagura the rest of the way to the choking man and carefully lowered her to the ground. Their hands re-clasped together.

"Now, honestly." She started all uppity, though still sounding tired. "You've lived a life longer than multiple lifespans, but have you ever been happy? You're never going to be able to pass on peacefully if you keep holding on to useless things." The ex-Tendoushuu was less panicked now, he simply looked at her like a crazy girl. Well, he wasn't the only one.

'But how can she look so happy?' He thought, eyeing her fresh wound. It was still bleeding profusely, and pain was evident in her eyes. However, she held the hand of the Shinsengumi beside her and all the ones she loved were surrounding her protectively and she was, she was happy.

For the first time in his life, the ex-Tendoushuu was not envious of another's power, but of what she had.

She reached out and pulled him slightly closer, her hand closed over his eyes. Before he had a chance to panic, she continued speaking. "Now close your eyes. Think happy thoughts. The last time you were actually happy. You can dream about it-aru."

Now he was sure she was mad, just as he was about to tell her to check herself into a mental asylum, he registered the warmth and softness of her thighs and hands. If felt nice. When carried by his slaves, it was always cold armor he was against.

He unexpectedly recalled a similar feeling from ages past. Centuries and centuries ago, he remembered the same warmth and softness, along with a sweet lullaby.

'Ah, that was... quite some time ago.'

He thought to himself, transporting to that time he lay in his mother's lap while she sang for him. He immersed himself in his dream, his face relaxed, his body untensed. For the first time in a long time, he was content.

He was silent for a while, Kagura thought her plan had failed, till she heard a soft sigh. The man against her lap smiled and then started to fade. His body crumbled like dust and with the wind rose into the air, a form held there at head height for a second as if watching, then with a light gust it vanished.

Kagura smiled. She too closed her eyes and thought about eating Sukonbu, watching TV with Gin-chan and Shinpachi, playing with Souyo, travelling with Papi and Baka-Aniki, talking with Mami, fighting with the Sadist. With happy memories in her mind, she passed out.

* * *

Notes: Nearlyy theree. Safe to say now, this will be finished. Didn't really know whether I would in the middle there, hehe. Some parts are always super awkward to write, and other parts just flow on off me.

So whaddya think? Reviews? Constructive-critism? :)

Next chap soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

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The sound of sobbing could be heard echoing down the corridors of the hospital. Men in suits lined the walls outside a particular room where the crying was most prominent. Nurses and doctors walked by the area with trepidation.

A particular skittish nurse scuffled past them and opened the door to the room hurriedly. "Yo-your-your Majesty, ple- please excuse me, I need to switch the patients IV bag."

Soyo stifled her sobs and stood aside. Staring in awe at the royalty, the nurse awkwardly fumbled with the nearly empty IV bag next to the unconscious Kagura. Gintoki stepped behind her and assisted her with the task with much more steady hands.

After the nurse left, Gintoki turned to Soyo. "Hey hey, I get that your worried, but Kagura will be just fine. You'll be the first to know when she wakes up. You've been here for hours, maybe you should go get some rest."

Nobume nodded her head behind them. Soyo sniffled some more, and bowed toward Gintoki, startling him. "Gin-chan-san" she also turned toward Umibouzu and did the same. "Umibouzu-san, please accept my deepest apologies. Had I known my request to bring Kagura-chan back would lead to this... I, I-" Tears welled in her eyes again." Gintoki flailed, trying to think of something reassuring to say.

"No, your majesty." Umibouzu interrupted him. "You mustn't blame yourself, you had given me a task but I had failed, and in doing so... " He turned toward his daughter and clenched his fist.

"Ah, oi oi" Gintoki tried to diffuse the tension, "ahaha, if we're all playing the blame game here, then she was captured cause of me, wasn't she? Ehehe..."

They both turned towards him.

"Yes, that is true."

"Hm, You're right."

Gintoki sweat-dropped.

"Maa, maa, everyone calm down. I think we're all just tired." Shinpachi stated, ever the voice of reason. "Kagura-chan's a strong girl, even the doctor was amazed at how fast she's healing so no need to worry."

His sister stepped up beside him. "Shin-chan's right. I have an idea! How about we all stop over at the family dojo and I'll make everyone some Tamago to brighten our spirits." She clapped cheerfully. "I can even make some extra for Kagura when she wakes up."

Gintoki and Shinpachi went green.

"Oh, how gracious of you, Otae-san. Thank you kindly. Ah! Is that the time? Oh my, we are awfully late for... something. I'll take my leave now, I'll visit again!" Soyo and Nobume zoomed out taking the men in suits with them.

Even Umibouzu had heard of the horror of this woman's cooking from his daughter. "Hmmmm, aughhhhh, my stomach, my stomach! I suddenly need to go to the bathroom reaaallly badddllyy. Must have been something I ate before, uurrghh, garrrghh." Clutching his stomach dramatically, he wobbled out of the room as well.

Gintoki stared after them, then belatedly clutched his stomach as well. "AUgh, damn, whatever that baldy ate must have transmitted to me too, uurrghh, garrrghh, gotta go." Just as he was leaving, a hand with monstrous strength clutched his shoulder.

Not wanting to turn his head, behind him was Otae with her most sinister smile. "At least come up with a little better excuse than that, Gin-san." She cracked her knuckles.

.

A peaceful day in Kabuki-cho, the sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, the leaves are rustling. Around the hospital is a beautiful park where children play and couples cuddle. The sound of glass breaking and the scream of a man falling to his death interrupted the tranquility. Just another peaceful day in Kabuki-cho.

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"AHAHAHAHAHA, good one, otae-san!" Kondo appeared when a space opened up beneath the floorboards. "Well, I like the idea! I'll eat all your Tamago, Otae-san, everyday, for the rest of my life." He grinned. "Marry me!" Otae's eye twitched and with a massive kick to his head, the cement concaved below him. A large dent formed in the ceiling one floor down.

Her kick also disrupted the nearby floorboards, sending them flying and revealed the face of another individual laying unobtrusively beside Kondo. It also made enough vibration in the room to cause Sarutobi to fall from the corner of the roof she was hiding in as well.

"Okita-san!" Shinpachi exclaimed surprised, he wasn't so surprised about the stalker masochist. "What are you doing here? I thought you were put on bed-rest."

The young man with red eyes and a deadpan face stood from his hiding spot and dusted himself off with one hand (the other was in a sling), disregarding the splattered head of his commander. "Bed-rest is boring." He drawled. He surreptitiously glanced at the unconscious girl laying on the bed.

From outside, they could hear the sound of running footsteps. "Uh oh." Sougo muttered just before the door slammed open revealing a slightly burnt-to-a-crisp Hijikata.

"YOU BASTARD! I'd knew I'd find you here!" Unsheathing his sword he stepped forward. "The nurse asked me to check up on you. WHO PUTS BLOODY GRENADES UNDER THEIR BLANKETS IN A HOSPITAL!?"

Kondo managed to sit up clutching his head that was overflowing with blood, good thing he was in a hospital. "Ah, Toshi, go easy on Sougo today. You know, the doctors did say they gave him some medication that may cause adverse reactions, maybe he just thought he was in danger."

Hijikata spat, "Danger my ass. He's the only danger!" aggressively pointing his sword.

Sougo, however, appeared pitifully ill, and he was tottering this way and that, extremely unsteady on his feet, heading alarmingly close to the broken window that Gintoki was tossed out of.

Hijikata forgot his anger and rushed forward. "Oi, watch out." He shouted, reaching out.

Within a blink of an eye, Sougo twisted around, knocked Hijikata's feet from under him and swerved him in a way that led him straight through the open window. The last thing Hijikata saw of the room was Sougo's gleaming red eyes and arrogant smirk.

.

The same peaceful day in Kabukicho. The sun, birds, leaves, kids and couples were just starting to forget the chill of the deathly scream heard before, returning to their merriment. Until another unearthly scream shook their cores, this time with an added "Youuu Basssttarrrddddd" fading in the distance.

.

Sougo crouched down with a bazooka on his good arm he randomly retrieved out of thin air. "And just for good luck." He smirked, warming up the weapon and aiming it at the still falling vice-commander. 'Vweeeeeeeeeeen' went the high-pitched loading sound just before the rocket launches.

It was at this moment that one of the occupants in the room decided that enough is enough!

'How does anyone get any goddamn rest in this place when there's. So. Much. Fucking. RACKET!' Large blood shot eyes abruptly opened and she sat up rapidly. The pain in her stomach overwhelmed by her sheer anger.

.

The same peaceful! day in Kabukicho. Surely, surely, after 2 unfortunate interruptions the day will be back to sunshine and rainbows. But just at that thought, the sound of a hideous monstrous roar, several windows shattering, 5 separate death wails and a rocket exploding in mid-air could be heard from the same vicinity as the previous incidents.

Alright, fine! Clouds quickly covered the bright sky and rain started smattering down. Kids and couples alike squirrelled their way back indoors.

.

Kagura closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, enjoying the peace and quiet. Though rain poured into the room through the broken windows, Kagura limped back to her bed and snuggled in under the covers.

Finally, sleep.

* * *

Notes: Hahaahaha, not the end yet. Ever so close now. Was gonna try squeeze it in, but ya'll just gonna have ta wait.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Finale.

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A few days later.

Kagura stood by the rails on the hospital roof watching the sun set. The early evening breeze was cool and tussled her loose hair and patients gown. Deep red glazed over the scene, Kagura herself looked almost a demon in a world of fire and brimstone.

The roof-top door creaked open behind her, she didn't pay the newcomer any attention as footsteps approached and stopped beside her.

In silence, the two watched the last rays of the sun go down.

Kagura interrupts the quiet with an unexpected laugh. "Haha, remember when you left with the Shinsengumi? We were both standing on that bridge and I kicked you off into the water." She gave him a mischievous smile and nodded toward the 200 ft drop below them.

Sougo peered down at the abyss below and hoped she was joking.

He almost didn't catch her whisper. "You kept your promise that time."

But he did, so he scoffed. "Hah, I didn't go travelling around the universe with two monsters hunting aliens for 2 years, yet I can still beat your ass to the ground. Frankly, I'm disappointed."

"In your dreams. As if you've ever even come close to beating me." Kagura rebutted.

"Let's go then, an official duel. I'll win even with my handicapped arm." He challenged, then shifted his eyes up and down her body nonchalantly. "How's yours? Not healed yet? I thought you had super-fast healing abilities. Tch."

He knew it hadn't, he had kept close tabs on it. The gunshot wound to her leg was good as new but the large damage to her stomach was still on the mend. Even now, the breeze occasionally lifted the corners of her shirt and he could glimpse bandages wrapped around her stomach.

And just as always, she was easily provoked. Her face flushed from his scrutiny. "Pffft. You don't even have your sword! You do know Yato excel at hand to hand combat." She cracked her knuckles.

"I don't need my sword, you don't have to worry about that."

They both lowered their centre of gravity, their eyes alight. Stuck in a hospital for days had them agitated. In that moment, adrenaline pumped through their blood, the thrill made their hearts beat faster and the excitement almost had them shaking.

Kagura rushed forward first, quick as a flash.

No time to think! Sougo instinctively blocked her elbow with his injured arm then kicked out at her position in front of him.

She dodged by flipping backwards, pulling her stomach, and landed on her feet, facing him.

They scrutinized one another in silence.

The fight lasted all of about 1 second.

After staring at each other and holding their positions en garde, they seemed to reach a decision at the same time and simultaneously collapsed, rolling around in agony.

"AUGHH, my tummy! You Do-S Bastard! The doc said I could finally eat solids tomorrow, if he changes his mind, I will kill you, you hear, kill you dead!"

"Back at you, idiot China! If that crazy bitch ass nurse shrieks at me one more time about not resting, I'm taking you down with me."

"You're the one who challenged me first! Look at you now, cocky chihuahua."

"Not like you're in any better shape, and after that shit you sprouted about never being beaten. delusional pig."

Yeah, this continues for a while as you can imagine. But believe in your hearts that these are the times they are at their happiest. Anyway, the night gets darker and their self-inflicted pain eventually fades.

After a brief silence, Kagura unexpectedly asks. "Did you see Papi downstairs?"

Did he or what. Her father was definitely a man hard to miss (and not because he was the universe's greatest alien hunter) it was really more the fact that Sougo felt his stare burning a hole through his head every time he was within the man's vicinity. Safe to say, he didn't think Umibouzu liked him very much.

There was the brief incident where the man had come up to him and thanked him for following his daughter when she was captured. Sougo still gets chills from thinking about that encounter though. The eyes! The eyes and the words didn't match at all!

However outwardly, Sougo simply drawled. "Yeah, I did. Danna too. You know it's rude to leave your visitors waiting."

Kagura scoffed. "Better than trying to kill them."

"Hijibaka's different."

She rolled her eyes and sat up, facing away from him. She took a deep breathe. Sougo stayed silent.

"Papi said he's thinking about leaving again. He wants me to come."

She stares up at the twinkling stars, her hand rises and clenches, imagining the stars can be caught in her fist.

Sougo stayed silent.

Well, that... hit harder than anticipated. He had thought he prepared himself for this, she had left before. He just... he thought there would be more time, there were so many things still left unsaid, unknown. His mind in turmoil, Sougo closed his eyes and clenched his fists, rising from where he laid.

He couldn't be angry with her, he had left his only family once and that forever tore at him, how can he expect the same. He couldn't and he didn't want to, it was just... he would miss her.

Not being beside him.

Again.

'Don't go.' He wanted to say. 'I don't want you to go.'

"I don't want to go."

Those weren't his words.

He turned and saw her facing him with determined eyes and red cheeks. She stood up and resolutely closed the distance between them, leaned up on her tippy toes and smashed her lips to his head on, their noses squashed together painfully for an instant. But before he could even blink, she had ducked her head back down hiding behind her fringe.

"I, I don't want to go, be- because I love you!" As she spoke, her voice gradually grew louder till she was practically shouting. He couldn't see much with her face covered, except that the very tips of her ears were inflamed and redness was creeping down her neck beneath her patient's gown. "and I'll miss you too much! But not just you, bastard, so, so don't get it wrong! Gin-chan too, and Shinpachi, and Sadaharu and Anego and, and Zura and- - - -"

While she continued listing off a never-ending list of names, Sougo stood stunned for a moment. Then,

"Pftt." He chuckled.

Kagura, still red-faced but now outraged, looked back up on the verge of exploding.

She stopped when she saw he was struggling to get his arm out of his sling.

The bullet wound had been stitched up well enough but the muscles around the site were still extremely sore.

"What are you doi-" Kagura began before Sougo managed to take it off and fling it behind him, then using his now free arms he encircled her and brought her closer.

"Was that supposed to be a kiss, China?"

"Sh, Shuttup!" She replied. But though his tone was teasing, his movements told another story. He was slow and his touches gentle, one circling her waist, the other guided her hand to his chest where she felt the rapid beating of his heart, similar to her own if not more so. His eyes especially, told her everything she needed to know. Kagura immersed in them.

He leaned his face in and whispered to her. "I love you. I don't want you to go." He smiled depreciatively. "You showed me up again, China." Reaching up and cupping the back of her neck, he lightly tilted her head, his lips millimetres from hers. "Can I kiss you?" Kagura replied with a whine.

He took it as a yes and leaned down all the way, pressing his lips gently to hers. Warm and soft, it was like all those TV dramas she loved watching but even better. He licked her lips and she allowed him entry, slowly they explored each other, lost in the feeling, entrenched in the moment.

Neither knew how much time passed, on one hand it felt infinite, on the other too quick.

Unconsciously, their hands wandered, Kagura's hands found their way to Sougo's back and sculpted over his muscles there, one of Sougo's tangled in her smooth fiery hair while the other dipped and curved along Kagura's contours all the while moving dangerously south. He'd likely have an issue soon if they didn't stop.

He pulled back first but she wasn't having any of it, chasing after him with her lips till they connected again. She could feel his lips stretching against her own and a rumble in his chest that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle but at that moment she couldn't care less.

Finally, when they did separate, they leaned against each other, catching their breath.

Content in their embrace.

"D'you know what would be a good idea?" Sougo contemplated after a silence, playing with a lock of her hair. Kagura mumbled incoherently. "After some time, I can join you on a trip to outer space, we can fight aliens together." Kagura looked up at him in surprise. "I can get to know baka-aniki and papi better."

.

The sound of an unrestrained carefree laughter could be heard echoing throughout the hospital.

Umibouzu, situated inside, heard the sound and felt a cold chill run down his spine. Inexplicably, on the other side of the universe, Kamui also thought he heard laughter and felt the same deathly chill.

.

FIN.

* * *

-and onto the next journey, haha. Nah, I'm not, no plans for it. And that's it guys, it's over! Endings are hard to write.

Thank you guys for sticking this far with my first long-ish fanfic. I really hope you enjoyed it, I had fun writing it 🙂. Reviews please? anything you liked or didn't really like, I'd appreciate it.

Hope to see you around. Bye bye.


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